Blocking and Tackling
by Viwiel Singollo
Summary: After Sunnydale Buffy went and got a physiotherapy degree and used it with the slayers. When Riley (now going by Matt Donnally) calls and asks for help with one of the players in the team he's working with, she reluctantly agrees to travel to New York.


**Disclaimer:** I solemnly swear I do not own either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Necessary Roughness.

**Summary:** After Sunnydale Buffy went and got a physiotherapy degree and used it with the slayers. When Riley (now going by Matt Donnally) calls and asks for help with one of the players in the team he's working with, she reluctantly agrees to travel to New York. When she gets there, she's facing an ex, a temperamental wide receiver, a skeptical fixer and a therapist who's got the hots for her ex.

**A/N:** I got no idea where this is going, but yea, that's the standard for me. I'm not entirely sure what way I'll end twisting that Riley/Matt thing, but that's not really that relevant, so go ahead and ignore it for now. I was asked why Buffy would go to help if she wasn't doing it for Riley/Matt. I think having both been shot and acted self-destructively would make her want to try to help. Also, it's part of her nature, I think.

Also, I'm trying to get back to writing, so I'd really appreciate if you took a moment to tell what you thought of it.

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**Blocking and Tackling**

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_"Some people try to find things in this game that don't exist but football is only two things - blocking and tackling._"  
– Vincent T. Lombardi

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"Matt, I don't think you realize how seriously you are going to owe me for this." Buffy told the man who was casually leaning to a desk in front of her. She frowned and after a moment's thought added, "More than from Belize," with a tone that told him not to even try to mess with her.

"More than from Belize? I know TK's kind of... _larger than life_?" She snorted derisively at Matt's attempt to describe the man who was known as the New York Hawks' star wide receiver.  
"Anyway, there's no way he's worse than that situation in Belize," Matt disagreed.

"_Oh, yes_," Buffy hissed – with the day she'd had she was not in the mood for games, "he's way worse than that little clusterfuck. It's like dealing with a 6'3" teenager on sugar rush, and-"

A dark-haired man in a suit opened the door to Matt's office, cutting short what would have been a colorful dissertation of the wide receiver's character. He stood out in the Hawks' headquarters where most of the men were athletes in their training clothes. He had obviously heard the last part because the first thing he said was, "TK?"

Buffy nodded a very emphatic yes to the stranger's question and gave Matt the evil eye. She crossed her arms mirroring Matt's earlier pose and her expression conveyed what she thought about the wide receiver and his attitude as well as the Hawks' trainer.

"Unfortunately, yes, we were talking about TK," Matt's admitted, ignoring Buffy's look.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two in the middle of that riveting topic, then," Buffy detected some well-covered, wry amusement from the stranger when he said that, "but there's a situation that requires your presence, Donnally," he told Matt.

"Alright," Matt agreed with a nod. "But before I go; Buffy, meet Nico Careles. He takes care of –_situations_ around here." From Matt's emphasizing Buffy got the impression that Nico was the go-to guy when you needed something taken care of – fast and quietly. She had crossed paths with a couple of the fixer types in the business and had some professional appreciation for the certain ruthlessness they all seemed to possess.

"Nico," Matt continued and gestured at her, "This is Buffy Summers. She's an old friend and she's agreed to help with TK. She has experience of dealing with teenagers with big attitudes so she should be able to handle him just fine," Matt flashed that boyish grin that had once upon a time made Buffy go all tingly inside. Right now it was just annoying the hell out of her. "She's also got a degree in physiotherapy," he added as an afterthought.

Nico quirked an eyebrow and from his expression Buffy could read he was skeptical about her being able to make some difference when it came to TK – she didn't take offense to that. She was skeptical as well, seeing that based on her first impression of Terrence King she'd rate him up there with Kennedy on the scale of bratty and entitled, and everybody knew how well the two of them got along. There was a reason why you usually could find them on different continents.

"It a pleasure to meet you, Nico. If you're the one doing the clean up after TK, I feel for you. I was just telling Matt how bad he's going to owe me for making me deal with him."

"Pleasure's entirely mine," Nico replied. "And TK's a headache of his own brand, that's for sure."

Buffy hummed in agreement, a slight smile curling the corners of her mouth. Truth to be told, while TK was a train wreck and refusing everyone's attempts to help, she still wanted to try to get through to him – after all, she wouldn't be here if she didn't.  
Despite of their history, Matt had no pull on her, and she could have just as well refused to come when he'd called and asked for her help. TK was a screw-up – true enough, but out of the people she knew, who wasn't?


End file.
